Fall is a wonderful time to visit the North Shore of Lake Superior.  The weather is a bit chilly, the colors are starting to change, and you never know what the lake is going to do.  The photos above are from the mouth of the Temperance River and were taken the first night we arrived.  The river was a little down due to the low rainfall this year, but the lake did get a little rough a couple of days. 

The photos above are of our hike up the Temperance River from camp the second day we were there.  The falls in the fourth and last picture of the series were called the hidden falls.  At one time, the falls actually flowed over the ground to the left and right of the gorge in the pictures, but that was many thousands to hundreds of thousands of years ago.

This was our usual trip back to Two Harbors, Minnesota.  It is always a treat to visit, walk out on the breakwater, and see what ships might be utilizing the bay.  This year we came across the Roger Blough again. 

We learn a little bit more about the bay each time we come back.  This time, we found some information about a fishing village that once was located along the shoreline.  You can still see the railroad tracks in the last picture.  We assumed that they were used for launching and retrieving larger fishing boats, but we could not find information to substantiate that. 

We also found out about the history of Agate Bay, the forerunner to Two Harbors.  The area just east of the Train Depot Museum is slated for some new developments.  While plans were being made, some interesting historical items were found, which caused an archeological dig to take place.  The boards in the first two images tell a very interesting story about that and the history.  The third board pictured talks about the industry that was on the site, as well as has some pictures of a huge crane that used to be located here.  The last picture shows the remains of one of the tracks that the crane was mounted on. 

This is a fun part of the highway running along the North Shore of Lake Superior.  You come to not one, but two tunnels, a completely unexpected feature.  We always thought the tunnel pictured, Silver Creek Cliff, and the one in the distance to the north in the third picture, LaFayette Tunnel, appeared rather new, but we did not realize how new until this trip.  We finally decided to stop and visit the scenic overlook and we learned that the tunnels were constructed in the early 1990s.  You can get the full story of that by reading the board in the first picture.  What is impressive is that in the last three pictures, you can see where the highway used to run alongside the lake.  The road would not have been much bigger than the walking path from the parking lot to the overlook.  You can get an idea of the treacherous drop on the lake side of the old highway in the forth picture in the first row.  The posts in the last picture are what used to be the only guard rail alongside the highway. 

Taconite Harbor was another one of our stops along the North Shore.  This location and Sugar Loaf Cove, just a few miles down the road, were once large taconite and logging harbors.  Taconite Harbor was opened in the late 1950s and was in use until 2001 when a downturn in the steel industry caused its closure.  The coal generating electrical plant, used for the harbor, is still in operation today.  The two boards in the first panel tell the story of this area.

The items in the following two photos give you an impression of the size of some of the equipment used here.  The rock in the second photo in the second row is a piece of raw taconite.  This was broken down through many processes and eventually turned in to small taconite pellets.  This is a more purified steel that is still used today.

The anchor and capstan in the next picture is from the tug Butterfield  and was removed during one of her refits.  The tug was one of the many used to transport huge log rafts across Lake Superior to the lumber mills.  The other photos are of the boat launch and break water that protects the harbor.  The last photo shows remnants of a small community that once stood here to support the workers.  

Just a mile or so from camp was a really neat water fall along the Cross River.  We past over it many times along our drives, but never really stopped to take a look.  If you do see this, I would recommend taking a couple of minutes to check it out.

This is the site of Father Baraga's Cross.  The full story is described in the second picture, but the short version is that he was trying to cross Lake Superior, in a canoe to help with an outbreak in Grand Marais.  Unfortunately, a storm developed and he was nearly drown.  He came ashore in this location and was so thankful for reaching safety, that he erected a wooden cross in thanks.  This is also where the Cross River gets its name.

We came across the cabin in the last picture on our hike down to Father Baraga's Cross.  It looks like it was once part of a resort, since we saw a few others in the area.  Some have been fixed up and some are sitting in this condition.

Sugar Loaf Cove is just a mile or so down the road from Taconite Harbor.  It is a nice self guided tour of the old lumber facility.  The third picture in the first row are of logs that used to form a flume they used to get the logs into the harbor.  The first picture in the third row is an old underground storage facility that is still in use today.  The picture next to that is what remains of a log raft used by the workers to stand on while assembling the larger log rafts that were towed across the lake. 

The pictures in the second row were not taken too far apart.  The day of this hike started to be a very nice warm and sunny fall day.  While we were on our hike, the fog quickly rolled in and closed in around us.  It was impressive to see this happen.

The view of Split Rock Lighthouse from the overlook along Highway 61.  I was hoping for a bit sunnier day to get a clearer picture, but that was not to be.  We also discovered an old overlook tower still standing by the old Highway 61 route.

Once again we made it up the North Shore to the Canadian border, and we decided to stop and explore Grand Portage State Park a bit this time.  It was a nice little hike out to the falls and the colors were just starting to change.  The falls in the picture is the high falls in Minnesota, and ironically enough, they do not know how high that really is.  They have yet to get an accurate measurement.  It was pretty neat to see the rainbow being formed by the falls in the forth row of pictures.  Also, if you look closely, in the lower right hand corner of the first picture in row five, you can see broken lumber.  The falls was to rough to try and float lumber down the river, so they bypassed them with a log flume.  You can see remains of that in the left side of the first picture in row four.  The lumber at the bottom of the falls were logs that got away from the loggers and were smashed down at the bottom.  The lumber mill has been closed for some time, and it is interesting that the broken logs are still there.     

The photos above are from an overlook just south of Grand Portage State Park.  The fog made it a great photo op the way it was rolling in over the hills.   

This series of photos comes from the Grand Portage National Monument.  This trip, we did not tour the facility.  Instead, we walked out on the dock, took some good photos of the fog, and read some of the plaques along the dock.  If you want to see more detailed photos of this monument, please see the photos in the 2010 photo album, Grand Portage Trading Post.

We took a quick trip through Duluth, Minnesota this year.  I was a bit windy, chilly, and the fog rolled in again on us.  It was still a very pleasant day overall.  We took a stroll along the Lake walk and drove out to the end of the island.  Duluth is definitely a nice place to visit and we are contemplating a winter hotel trip here some time soon.

Another fun stop along the North Shore is Gooseberry Falls State Park.  We were hoping that the falls might be a bit bigger this year, especially since we did have quite a bit of rain back home earlier in the season, but northern Minnesota was not so lucky this year.  Plus, I forgot despite any rainfall in the early season, fall is always a bit dry.  One nice thing about the falls being on the low side, you get a chance to get out and climb around the rocks a bit more. 

Palisade Head is located just north of Silver Bay, Minnesota.  As you can see in the photos that it is a great spot for climbers.  Not to mention that the view is really good as well.

The overlook at Silver Bay is a nice stop along the North Shore.  From here, you can see the massive taconite plant long the highway, you can see up to Palisade Head, and most of Silver Bay itself.  Not to mention that it is a nice hike around the top of the hill.  If you would like to learn a little more about this area, please read the placards in the photos above. 

Carlton Peak is a nice overlook of the entire area around Temperance River State Park.  To illustrate how large, the second picture in the forth row is taconite harbor.  That is about three to file miles south of the campground.  As for the Peak, it is about a three mile hike from camp to the northwest.  We were planning on hiking it, but the weather did not cooperate as much as we would have liked.  Instead, we decided to take the "road" to the top and save some time.  Little did we know that the term road was being used loosely.  We followed the road until we came to a fork.  One way was really well maintained and the other seemed a bit rough.  We followed the maintained road and found an old gravel quarry.  So we turned around and took the other way.  About half way up we found the sign in the last picture.  Just around the corner from there was sign welcoming us to Carlton Peak.  The only vehicles we saw were either four wheel drive, or all wheel drive vehicles.  A regular car would have had difficulty, if it could have made it at all.

But, as you can see by the first few photos, the drive and short hike was well worth it.  The fall colors were starting to show, but unfortunately, we had rain moving it, so they were not as vibrant as I was hoping for.